Why can't Hong Kong become a Silicon Valley with entrepreneurial spirit?

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Guide: Hong Kong has a low tax, efficient government, tendentious policy, a sound and efficient communication infrastructure and a globally recognised legal system, but why cannot Hong Kong become a Silicon Valley?

"Are there any people who want to be Superman these days?" Li Ka-shing's business partners and confidant Zhou Triumph told everyone, the answer is no, "these days no one wants to be a hero, and nobody wants to be Superman." ”

In the past few decades, Mr Li Ka-shing has been known as the "Li Supen", the entrepreneurial spirit leader of the Chinese community, including Hong Kong. In recent years, however, the entrepreneurial spirit he represents has begun to be challenged in Hong Kong.

Indeed, Hong Kong's entrepreneurial spirit went downhill ten years ago. The Chinese University of Hong Kong's study of entrepreneurial observation in Hong Kong found that the entrepreneurial level in Hong Kong was surprisingly low.

The Global Entrepreneurship Survey, which began in 2002 and covers 54 countries and regions worldwide, shows that Hong Kong's entrepreneurial activity penetration rate is only 3.4% of the adult population and one of the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activity in the world.

Even after Hong Kong ushered in the boom era of "free trade", entrepreneurial activity has not improved significantly over the past decade. According to a 2009 study, only 3.6% of the adult population in Hong Kong engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity, lower than 8% in the United States, and far below the 18.8% per cent of the mainland's entrepreneurial population.

"Spoiled Hong Kong"

One Canadian has witnessed the decline of Hong Kong's entrepreneurial spirit.

Rockowitz (Bruce Rockowitz) came to Hong Kong 35 ago to participate as a professional tennis player in the tournament. He was only 19 years old, a part-time tennis coach at a Hong Kong Country Club, and the town grew up seeing so many Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz cars for the first time. His life has also been attached to Hong Kong, including after the singer Coco married and settled in Hong Kong.

"At the time, unlike in Hong Kong, where there were not so many good restaurants, entertainment and hotels, it was easier for young people to start a business." Yue Yue Yu said to the first financial daily.

While a part-time coach, he met the "Father of Lan Kwai Fong" Zeman (Allan Zeman), joined a trading company called Colby as a partner. In 1984, California restaurant, the first restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong, laid the groundwork for the Rise of Lan Kwai Fong.

In 2000, Li Fung Group acquired Colby, Yue Yue, and in 2004 became the chief executive of Lee Fung Limited, led by a decade to increase the revenue from 6 billion U.S. dollars to 20 billion U.S. dollars. In July this year, Le Yue-yu will give Feng's family the fourth generation of Feng Yujun, as Li Fung split the listing of the brand's chief executive.

In addition, Rockowitz in 2002 with friends to establish a chain of fitness club brand Pure, now pure in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and New York has branches, more than 50,000 customers, employing more than thousands of employees.

Today, creative and thoughtful people in Hong Kong are struggling to start a business, and high rents are an important reason for many, including Rockowitz. "Hong Kong's competitiveness is hurt by high rents, it is difficult for newcomers to enter the market, and successful people are more likely to drive the newcomers away." "he said.

His old friend, Zeman, recently said, "Hong Kong is stuck" (HK Kong is stuck), Rockowitz said, "Many aspects of Hong Kong are spoiled by the mainland." He said that Hong Kong, with a population of 7 million, and the mainland of 1.3 billion people were only 20 minutes away, and that there were so many opportunities to create brands in Hong Kong to sell to the mainland, "but how many brands were born in Hong Kong?"

"The banking industry in Hong Kong is very large, but it is not entrepreneurial." "Hong Kong must create something in the future and Hong Kong people must be more entrepreneurial," Rockowitz said. Hong Kong needs 100 Zeman and 100 Yue Yue. ”

A piece of Li Ka-shing Puzzle

At this time, three young people from Canada are writing their entrepreneurial stories, and Hong Kong is just a passer-by and a bridge.

Nanoleaf (Nano Lattice Co., Ltd.) was founded by three University of Toronto graduates, invented the world's most energy-efficient LED light bulbs. The company, which manufactures energy-saving LED bulbs, won the favor of Li Ka-shing and Zhou triumph at the end of last year, becoming the only Hong Kong company to invest in Horizons Ventures, the capital of Li Ka-shing's VC company.

"Mr. Li and Solina are our best salesmen," he said. "We are companies registered in Hong Kong, but we are from Toronto, Canada and headquartered in Shenzhen to get closer to the supply chain and market information," Sishing, founder and operations director of Nanoleaf, told the first financial daily. ”

As a director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation and the founder of Victoria Harbour Investment, Zhou Triumph made a high-profile public appearance for the first time. In May this year, she carried seven science and technology projects, in Beijing, Xi ' an, Suzhou and Guangzhou, called "Technology clips" of the exhibition Roadshow.

The seven science and Technology ventures involved food, agriculture, energy, environmental governance, bioengineering, medical and large data, and selected 57 investment projects from the Victoria Harbour. The investment in Victoria Harbour is the flagship of Li Ka-Shing's venture capital for Technology ventures, mainly from Israel and the United States, and only nanoleaf in Hong Kong can be counted as an example.

Li Ka-shing's investment in the bulb company and the unique light bulb he played in a media interview made Nanoleaf a night of popularity. Recently they once again through the overseas public website for adjustable brightness of the new light bulb products to raise funds, within 90 minutes to reach 300,000 U.S. dollars in fund-raising goals.

At present, the minimum price of nanoleaf bulbs is as high as 35 U.S. dollars, one months to produce about 5,000 bulbs, shipping time of at least 60 days. Now the company is building a fully automated production line in Dongguan, hoping to reduce prices.

"Giants support small startups, and they don't really value the latter's profitability," he said. We were lucky to have done the right thing at the right time. "Nobody wants to invest in small startups, and Mr. Lee and Solina have different views of the world, they know the latest technology, they want to change the world, and we're just one of their big puzzles," said Sishing, 31. ”

Less bankers and more entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is further and farther away from Hong Kong. At a recent investment forum held in Hong Kong, many investors asked the same question: why cannot Hong Kong become a Silicon Valley because of its low taxation, efficient government, tendentious policies, a sound and efficient communication infrastructure and a globally recognised legal system?

"Hi-Tech high, low-tech", the Hong Kong University of Science and technology professor of Economics and Economic Development Research Centre director Lui told the first financial daily, Hong Kong in the 80 's period, many entrepreneurs to join the development of High-tech, but many people at a loss, Therefore, there is a Cantonese proverb which means to make a lot of money by taking the wrong medicine and making a low technology.

Hong Kong has never been a hotspot for technology start-ups, and the SAR government has been unable to form a climate for technological entrepreneurship that has been pushed forward since the late 90.

In 1999, the HKSAR Government proposed to develop it, and in 2000 the government and Mr Li Ka-shing's son, Richard Li, jointly developed the Cyberport in an attempt to nurture a large number of technology start-ups. In the same year, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission and the Hong Kong Institute of Applied Science and technology established the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, and the government launched various funds to encourage support for technological innovation.

However, the Cyberport has become a real estate project. Rocky Lee, a partner at Cadwalader law firm, Li Dashing a large number of Silicon Valley and mainland internet companies, he said, scoring 10 points, and Hong Kong's hopes of becoming Silicon Valley are only 3 points. In addition to the high rents, there is no market in Hong Kong for technology entrepreneurs to stop. It is also important that Hong Kong does not possess technological innovation talents.

Ricky, founder of Hong Kong Television, three, said that entrepreneurship is not based on government subsidy, but on whether the whole social culture is advocating, and that Hong Kong starts from school education is the most traditional education, "the most important thing is to have a rebellious spirit." ”

At the same time, hope one night developed short-sighted also spent the entrepreneurial spirit. Rockowitz says there are many bankers in Hong Kong and fewer entrepreneurs. Cisco (24.95,-0.05,-0.2%) Zhang Bezhou, managing director of the investment division of Greater China, said university students in Hong Kong chose to be bankers, lawyers and doctors, using their feet to give Hong Kong a vote in Silicon Valley.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Monetary Development Council, the unofficial member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Smillen), said Hong Kong was not in a condition to develop hi-tech enterprises on a large scale.

She told the first financial daily that the HKSAR government wanted to set up a science and technology Bureau to help expand the technology industry, but she could not see a large scale in a short period of time. In her view, Hong Kong should play a more important role in existing strengths on the existing basis.

Lui said that if Hong Kong can develop hi-tech industries in the future, it will mainly be talents. One is to be combined with Shenzhen, the second is a large number of attracting high-tech industry overseas work experience of the returnees. He said Hong Kong would be able to do something about biotechnology and environmental protection if it could gain central policy support.